Note: I regrettably have not read Inkdeath yet (I know! I want to so bad!). So some things will not be right obviously. Well the fact that Dustfinger is now seemingly alive was bound to change the story anyways…but I just wanted to let you all know that. Please don't kill me! Let's just say that this is my own Inkdeath. Lol, the title even fits Dustfinger's new story!

Chapter 7: Home Again

Birds…Birdsong, I could hear birds singing. The air, it was so…fresh and clear. My mind…so detached…and foggy. That's it, it had happened. I had finally gone mad. Does a madman wonder if he was insane? It didn't matter….I had to have gone crazy. Ugh, that rock under my back hurt. Rock? Under me? I was lying down? I had been sleeping? No, no, no, no…I was definitely crazy. None of this existed in the land of the white women. You don't sleep in the world of black and white. You just don't. My head was pounding painfully, I felt like I had been hit with a hammer…hard. For that matter my entire body was sore. Physical pain? That didn't exist either…then I remembered Tialmae. Had she done it? Was I really alive?

I opened my eyes and found myself blinded by the sun. I closed them quickly and raised an arm to block the light. "Ahhh!" I yelled as what had been throbbing pain in my wrist turned to sharp intense pain.

I sat up carefully and opened my eyes a tiny bit, letting them adjust to the light after years of darkness. The sun was warm on my skin; I had almost forgotten how good it felt. I raised my left arm up carefully grimacing as the pain from my wrist spread through my arm. Supporting it cautiously with my right hand I examined it. It was swollen and definitely not right, probably broken. As my eyes became accustomed to the light I looked around me. Green, lush grass, tall, beautiful trees, branches reaching for the bright blue sky. Sounds of life all around me. I was back. I was really, truly back. Something was missing though…what was it…Darin! Where was Darin?

I looked around wildly, wincing when I jerked my wrist. I didn't see him anywhere. Had he not made it? Was he still with the white women? I quickly tried to stand up, failed, and landed on the ground hard. I felt so weak, not right. I was sore everywhere, and I could barely think with my head throbbing like it was. I tried to stand up once more, and fell again. This was not good, I was too weak to help myself, and if things didn't get better I'd find myself with the white women again. I got up on my knees and fell on my face. I tried to catch myself with my injured wrist, and the burning pain intensified. I laid there for a minute, unable to do anything else, trying to get my pain under control. Just think, I told myself. How can I get out of this?

My muscles were like jelly, and so far had done nothing to help me. In fact trying to use them had made things worse. Darin wasn't here; I had to try to forget about him. I wished that he could have made it here with me. He was the one who had tried to plan a way back in the first place, and he was still stuck in the land of the dead. If Darin was here he could go for help, assuming he wasn't as bad off as I was. Help, how could I get help? Fire! If flames suddenly exploded into the sky someone was bound to notice. I raised my right hand, snapped, and smiled grimly when a tiny flame appeared on my thumbnail. It came so much easier here, so much more willingly. I whispered to it in its language, encouraging it to grow larger and larger. Then I threw it high into the air. I sent two more fireballs after it, and watched them explode one after the other.

People within miles of me would be able to see those, hopefully someone would investigate, and hopefully they would be a friend. If they weren't…I would worry about it when the time came. For now, all I could do was wait. Minutes passed and I sent a few more fireballs roaring into the sky. It felt good to be back here, I was not going to give my life up so easily. The minutes turned to hours of agonizing waiting, although I would send fire into the air every so often. Every single second was horrible, waiting, in agonizing pain, wondering if I would return to the white women. I found myself clinging to consciousness, willing myself to stay awake.

Stay awake, I told myself, just stay awake. That's all you have to do Dustfinger, hold on. Someone's got to be on their way. I felt my vision start to blur, and I sent one last feeble fireball into the air. All of the noises of life were fading, along with my sight. No! I thought, I won't go back! My only comfort was that I couldn't hear the white women, at least not yet. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard bushes rustling as something large moved through them. I was going to black out, I knew it. What if it was a hostile animal? "Won't go back," I murmured pathetically, trying to keep awake.

"I won't let them take me," even my own voice, scratchy because of my dry throat, seemed distant to me now.

"Over there! Look, that him? It's got to be!" a sudden voice intruded into my fading senses.

"I won't let them take me," I said again, my voice quiet and rasping.

I felt two large hands gently roll me over onto my back, and I opened my eyes a tiny bit to try to see the man. He was looking down at me, he seemed worried. I couldn't really see many of his features because of my blurry, fading vision. "Don't let them take me," I rasped, "They have Darin…"

"It's okay; it's goin' to be okay. We'll get you to safety, don't worry," the man said.

Dustfinger…the whispering voices started, ever so faintly, but they were there. My breath started coming in short gasps. They couldn't take me back! "They're…they're here, they're coming back for…" I started coughing violently and couldn't finish. I reached up feebly and grasped the man's arm weakly with my good arm. "Don't…don't let them take me back."

I hated having to go through this. I hated sounding feeble and weak. I hated having so much fear overwhelming me. I hated Tialmae for doing this to me, for playing this cruel trick. "We need to get 'im out of here and fixed up. White women are starting to get to 'im," I heard another man say.

This was bad, this couldn't happen, not again. The world slipped completely, and I felt myself slide into suppressing darkness once more.